What Matters to Student Success

1. What Matters to Student Success • George D. Kuh • 4th Annual • Student Success Symposium • Conway, AR • March 31, 2011

2. We all want the same thing—an undergraduate experience that results in high levels of learning and personal development for all students.

4. Context Global Competitiveness in Degree Attainment The New Majority and Demographic Gaps Questionable Levels of Student Performance

6. “It’s the Learning, Stupid”

7. Context Global Competitiveness in Degree Attainment The New Majority and Demographic Gaps Questionable Levels of Student Performance In a Most Challenging Fiscal Environment …  We Need Higher Levels of Student Attainment at an Affordable Cost

8. What If… • If we imagined what our work would be like using what we know about how students learn…? • And if we created optimum learning conditions for all students…? • Then, how would we re-design our policies, programs and practices? • What kinds of teaching and assessment approaches would we use?

9. Overview • What the world needs now • Why engagement matters • High-impact practices • A six step agenda

10. Association of American Colleges and Universities

11. Narrow Learning is Not Enough: The Essential Learning Outcomes • Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical & Natural World • Intellectual and Practical Skills • Personal and Social Responsibility • “Deep” Integrative Learning

12. Deep, Integrative Learning • Attend to the underlying meaning of information as well as content • Integrate and synthesize different ideas, sources of information • Discern patterns in evidence or phenomena • Apply knowledge in different situations • View issues from multiple perspectives

13. P e t e r D HART RESEARCH A S S O C I A T E S Raising The Bar Employers’ Views On College Learning In The Wake Of The Economic Downturn Key findings from survey among 302 employersConducted October 27 – November 17, 2009for

14. Employer expectations of employees have increased % who agree with each statement Our company is asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past Employees are expected to work harder to coordinate with other departments than in the past The challenges employees face within our company are more complex today than they were in the past To succeed in our company, employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge today than they did in the past

15. Employers’ Top Priorities for Student Learning In College % saying two- and four-year colleges should place MORE emphasis on helping students develop these skills, qualities, capabilities, knowledge Effective oral/written communication Critical thinking/ analytical reasoning Knowledge/skills applied to real world settings Analyze/solve complex problems Connect choices and actions to ethical decisions Teamwork skills/ ability to collaborate Ability to innovate and be creative Developments in science/technology

16. Other Areas Of Learning Needing More Emphasis % saying two- and four-year colleges should emphasize MORE helping students develop in these areas Locate/organize/evaluate information Understand global context Global issues’ implications for future Understand & work with statistics Understand role of U.S. in the world Knowledge of cultural diversity in US/world Civic knowledge, community engagement Foreign language proficiency Understand, apply democratic values

17. What Matters to Student Success Kuh, G.D., Kinzie, J., Buckley, J.A., Bridges, B.K., & Hayek, J.C. (2007). Piecing together the student success puzzle: Research, propositions, and recommendations. ASHE Higher Education Report, 32(5). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Commissioned papers at: http://nces.ed.gov/npec/papers.asp

18. Academic preparation Pre-college Characteristics Associated with Student Success

20. Academic preparation Ability and college-level skills Financial wherewithal Family education and support Pre-college Characteristics Associated with Student Success

21. Psycho-social fit Goal realization Credit hours completed Academic and social support Involvement in the “right” kinds of activities Early College Indicators of Persistence and Success

22. What Really Matters in College: Student Engagement Because individual effort and involvement are the critical determinants of college impact, institutions should focus on the ways they can shape their academic, interpersonal, and extracurricular offerings to encourage student engagement. Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005, p. 602

23. Foundations of Student Engagement Time on task (Tyler, 1930s) Quality of effort (Pace, 1960-70s) Student involvement (Astin, 1984) Social, academic integration (Tinto,1987, 1993) Good practices in undergraduate education (Chickering & Gamson, 1987) College impact (Pascarella, 1985) Student engagement (Kuh, 1991, 2005, 2007)

24. Student Engagement Trifecta • What students do -- time and energy devoted to educationally purposeful activities • What institutions do -- using effective educational practices to induce students to do the right things • Educationally effective institutions channel student energy toward the right activities

25. Good Practices in Undergraduate Education(Chickering & Gamson, 1987; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) • Student-faculty contact • Active learning • Prompt feedback • Time on task • High expectations • Respect for diverse learning styles • Cooperation among students

26. National Survey of Student Engagement(pronounced “nessie”)Community College Survey of Student Engagement(pronounced “cessie”) College student surveys that assess the extent to which students engage in educational practices associated with high levels of learning and development

27. NSSE & CCSSE Questionnaires Student Behaviors Institutional Actions & Requirements Student Learning & Development Reactions to College Student Background Information

29. Grades, persistence, student satisfaction, gains across a range of desired outcomes, and engagement go hand in hand

30. Both the NSSE benchmark and deep learning scales are…significantly and positively linked to … effective reasoning and problem solving, well being, inclination to inquire and lifelong learning, intercultural effectiveness, leadership, and moral character… These associations persisted even after introducing controls for important confounding influences. Pascarella et al., 2009 reporting on the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNSLAE)

31. It’s more complicated than this… • Many of the effects of college are “conditional” • Some are compensatory • Some have unusually positive effects

32. Who’s (on average) more engaged? • Women • Full-time students • Students who live on campus • Students with diversity experiences • Students who start and stay at same school

33. CCSSE: Who Is More Engaged? Community College Survey of Student Engagement

37. Who’s more engaged? • Women • Full-time students • Students who live on campus • Students with diversity experiences • Students who start and stay at same school • Students who have done “high- impact” practices

38. www.aacu.org

39. High-Impact Activities • First-Year Seminars and Experiences  • Common Intellectual Experiences • Learning Communities • Writing-Intensive Courses • Collaborative Assignments and Projects • “Science as Science Is Done”; Undergraduate Research • Diversity/Global Learning • Service Learning, Community-Based Learning • Internships • Capstone Courses and Projects

40. Integrating ideas or information from various sources Included diverse perspectives in class discussions/writing Put together ideas from different courses Discussed ideas with faculty members outside of class Discussed ideas with others outside of class Analyzing the basic elements of an idea, experience, or theory Essential Learning Outcome:NSSE Deep/Integrative Learning • Synthesizing & organizing ideas, info., or experiences • Making judgments about the value of information • Applying theories to practical problems or in new situations • Examined the strengths and weaknesses of your own views • Tried to better understand someone else's views • Learned something that changed how you understand an issue

41. Effects of Participating in High-Impact Activities on Deep/Integrative Learning and Gains

42. Effects of Participating in High-Impact Activities on Student Engagement

43. High-Impact Activities Increase Odds Students Will: • Invest time and effort • Interact with faculty and peers about substantive matters • Experience diversity • Get more frequent feedback • Reflect & integrate learning • Discover relevance of learning through real-world applications

45. Impact of High-Impact Activities Enhanced When: • Structure and expectations set at appropriately high levels • Interact with faculty and peers about substantive matters • Experience diversity • Get more frequent feedback • Reflect & integrate learning • Discover relevance of learning through real-world applications • Public demonstration of competence

46. High-Impact Practices and the Disparities Within… Frosh: Service Learning and LCs • Parity among racial/ethnic groups • Fewer 1st gen students • Fewer part-time students • Fewer transfer students • Fewer older students

47. High-Impact Practices and the Disparities Within… Seniors in All HIPs • Fewer 1st gen students • Fewer students of color • Fewer transfer students • Fewer part-time students • Fewer older students

48. Six Step Agenda • Put money where it makes a difference to student success. “…in professional baseball it still matters less how much you have than how well you spend it”

49. Six Step Agenda • Put money where it makes a difference to student success. It’s not how much you spend but where(DEEP study, Delta Cost Project, Cornell studies)

50. Occasional Paper #3 Connecting the Dots Between Learning and Resources Jane V. Wellman With all the talk about the need for more accountability, surprisingly little is known about what kind of resources an institution needs in order to produce a given level of student attainment.   www.learningoutcomeassessment.org/OccasionalPapers.htm